Editor's Note: This is the third part in an occasional series on blight issues in Torrington. Part one focused on the problem in general. Part two explored the health issues in dealing with blight.

TORRINGTON >> The legal process for cleaning up blight is long and tedious, a fact that frustrates those on both sides of the issue. Residents who make complaints want to see resolution quickly. City officials who receive complaints, evaluate and determine something needs to be done, want to see a quick fix as well, but it isn't that easy.

As much as some wish it were possible, the city can't just knock down all of the blighted properties and build something newer and nicer.

Brett Zuraitis, chief building official, explained that the cost of demolishing buildings is different depending on, "size, use, what is left inside, does it have asbestos or other hazardous material, has there been a fire, is it next to a water body, etcetera."

Advertisement

Generally speaking, the estimate to demolish a single-family home can range from $15,000 to $27,000. For a commercial structure, it can cost between $175,000 and $255,000, said Zuraitis.

The city doesn't actually tear down buildings unless it is a public safety issue or the city owns the property, said Zuraitis. Often, "property owners are responsible to demo their own structures," he said.

Due process stands in the way of quick fixes. Under the City of Torrington's current blight ordinance, which was adopted in 2006, the city does not have the right to go onto a property and make changes simply because other residents don't agree with the way the building or grounds look. A proposed new blight ordinance, which will be discussed during a public hearing later this month, would allow city officials to make fixes for issues that need immediate attention.

In order to gain compliance, which is always the city's ultimate goal with blight and the multitude of issues associated with that -- including zoning, building, health and fire safety -- each property has to trudge through the legal process.

Ray Rigat, corporation counsel for the City of Torrington, heads this process, which begins with a complaint coming into one of the departments involved in the Blight Task Force. The task force is made up of Mayor Ryan Bingham, City Planner Martin Connor, Zuraitis, Fire Marshal Tim Tharau, Police Chief Michael Maniago, Director of Economic Development Rose Ponte, a representative from the Torrington Area Health District, Rigat, and any other city staff deemed appropriate.

When it comes to zoning, Kim Barbieri, the city's zoning enforcement officer, evaluates each complaint. Barbieri said the process sometimes begins with her own initiative driving by and recognizing zoning issues. If she determines something needs to be done, she asks the property owner for voluntary compliance.

"We will go out and look at it and we start a process. It's a pretty standard process," Barbieri said. "We do a request for voluntary compliance, which has a 30-day window, a cease and desist order - another 30 day window. We do citations. That all sounds sweet and simple but people are involved so it's never sweet and simple."

The city is required to give the property owner the full 30 days for each step of the process, "so their appeal periods can pass," said Barbieri. "If they want to appeal my decision; if they want to appeal anything along the way, we have to give them time enough to do that."

Generally, it takes people at least 90 days to come into compliance said Barbieri. That's the trend.

"You pretty much know if you have a complaint in the fall, it won't get done til like June," said Barbieri. "In the springtime, if you get it done by the end of August, you're good. That's just kind of how the time frames work."

Barbieri said that sometimes she feels more like a case worker than an enforcement officer, a role she never thought she would play when she became the zoning and wetlands officer for the city 15 years ago. An important part of her job is checking in with problem properties to make sure things are moving along. The frequency with which Barbieri visits or gets updates from the property owner varies from case to case.

"There are some that are pretty much on a weekly basis," said Barbieri. "There are new ones maybe once a month."

Her dedication to each case is what makes Barbieri less an enforcement officer and more a case worker.

"She's awesome," Rigat said of Barbieri.

"For any violation, there's a scenario that you wouldn't expect," said Barbieri. "It really is remarkable, the things that we've seen."

One of those things she's seen is properties that stagnate for over a decade, like the property located at 523 Harwinton Ave.

"That one has been going on for over 20 years," said Barbieri. She expressed her frustration with the "one step forward, two steps back" process the city has gone through with this particular property, owned by Enoch Little, according to property records acquired through the assessor's office.

There is an end in sight for that property, which is covered in miscellaneous items including junk cars, furniture, metal, lawn equipment and other things. Barbieri said there is an order filed that the lot will be cleaned by June 30.

One of the complications with gaining compliance is that it isn't always the property owner who is causing the problem, said Barbieri.

In one case, it is the owner's son, who doesn't live in Torrington, who brings the items to his mother's house and litters her lawn.

"We have to still go through [the process]. Unfortunately that means giving cease and desist orders and citations to a 90-year-old woman who has no control over him," said Barbieri.

The property owner tried to pay off the first citation with change and $1 bills, recalled Barbieri.

"I was like 'I don't want your money. I just want your property clean so you can walk outside without tripping and falling. That's all I want.'" The city is still dealing with that case.

If the property owner doesn't meet the voluntary compliance within 30 days, the city can then issue a cease-and-desist order, said Rigat. A cease-and-desist order asks the property owner to stop doing what they're doing and not start it up again. The order gives the owner time, up until a specified day, to clean up their property.

If they choose not to comply with the request, the city files for injunctive relief, a court-ordered request for compliance. The corporation counsel files a complaint with the courts stipulating that on, "such a date the zoning enforcement officer visited the property and the cease and desist order was not met," said Rigat.

"We ask the judge to file for declaratory judgement," said Rigat, a court order which determines the position of litigants in cases where there is doubt about their position.

Delays can occur including special defenses, which Rigat said requires time to be answered.

"You hope by then you can get compliance," said Rigat, but that isn't always the case.

The next step, according to Rigat, is to file for either a stipulated judgement, a contested case, which results in a trial, or a default, which results in a hearing.

Rigat explained that Barbieri will present photos and documentation of visits and citations at the trial or the hearing as evidence of the state of the property and the continued lack of cooperation. The judge, usually Judge John Pickard of Litchfield Superior Court -- who Rigat said has been an asset to the city in dealing with blighted properties -- will file a judgement and institute a fine for every day the property is not taken care of.

Should the owner still refuse to clean their property, the next step is to file for contempt of court.

"We can ask the judge to allow us to enter the property with the marshal to clean and lean the property to recoup the money," said Rigat.

The owner can appeal the decisions, which can delay the process of compliance by, "one to three years," said Rigat.

"Those are all kind of legal remedies why we have to wait so long," said Barbieri.

"Ultimately it will get cleaned," said Rigat. "It is in no one's interest to let it get that far down the road."

The final stop is filing to recoup all of the money accumulated over time. Rigat said the process has never had to go that far. In fact, he has never seen someone go through the appeal process at the court of appeals since he was pronounced the corporation counsel in October.

"It usually resolves at pre-trial," said Rigat. Often, it's just easier to clean up the property than drag through the system.

"Some are pretty easy," said Barbieri. "It's just someone who got out of control. They know it, we know it, and they take care of it. There may be some blustery words or whatever. The ones that go on and on are the ones that have some issues."

"It's a huge problem," Barbieri said of the mental health component. "They need to have that support and help. We don't have that here. I know in dealing with different people, it's hard. You see the anguish that it puts them through, and to know they're doing it without any guidance."

Barbieri said she tries to be understanding of people and treat the items she may see as junk like they have value, because to the homeowner, they do.

"I won't say I'm any less hard on them to get the things done, but you have to adjust things to your audience," said Barbieri. "You don't say, 'this junk has to be out of here' because to them it all has value. You have to change how you speak to them so you don't offend them."

Without some sort of assistance, the properties will continue to revert back to an unlivable state and the city will fight the same wars year after year. Barbieri said she doesn't think a task force or group dedicated to mental health would make her job easier, but it would make it more compassionate.

But there is a fine line to walk with compassion in situations of blight or code violations. Who do you align with, the person being complained about or the person who is making the complaint?

Barbieri said the aspect that gets missed the most often is the neighbors.

"I think so often times we forget that they have neighbors that have to look at it and live with it," said Barbieri.

When cases drag on over months or years, it is the surrounding property owners who have to put up with the nuisance while the city struggles to get compliance.

For Barbieri, it can be boiled down to personal rights. The trouble, Barbieri identified, is that most people get caught up in their own rights -- that they can do whatever they like on their own property -- and forget about everyone else and their rights. She commented that she often agrees with the people who maintain the right to do what they like with their land, but she has to remind them that, "with personal responsibility comes responsibility to your neighbors as well."

Up there with the right to do what you want on your property is the right for you to have a beautiful neighborhood -- two combative ideals that serve as the crux for the complications surrounding blight.

All the city can do is what the law allows them to do, which ultimately is to gain compliance. At some point, in some period of time, things will change as they always do. The variable then is time.

The city is required to give the property owner every opportunity to clean up their property and institute gradually tougher repercussions for inaction until a full clean and lean is instituted towards the end of the process.

Today, Barbieri is more optimistic than she has been in the past because she said up until recently, the city hasn't had legal representation that was willing to take these cases to court. She recalled that they wanted to wait it out or issue their own letters to gain compliance.

"This is the first time we've been able to move things forward legally, which is great," said Barbieri.

She said she would be taking two new properties into court soon.

With the city's new corporation counsel and a new blight ordinance on it's way to completion, things may be changing. Those properties that have stagnated may finally be moving again like the Harwinton Road property, and newly identified properties may see a quicker clean up under new ordinances.